Tiffany's Center supports families

While much of Paarl was closed during the holidays, the Tiffany's Center was providing meals to the community. Instead of handing out soup, we provided real meals. The mothers or caregivers were invited to the center each day and our staff (Jenny and Cathy) made sure that they got enough for the whole family to share a meal. Since our focus is to try and help rebuild the families of our community, this was a great decision!
Last year Tiffany's (formerly the Miqlat Hope Center) received a significant renovation that allowed for a large computer training lab, internet cafe, training center, improved childcare area and a two story gymnasium which will allow the community to stay in shape. All of our funding and support came from local individuals and organizations who wanted to help rebuild the local community. Now that we're almost fully operational, you should see the level of activity! With the Dream Team living upstairs, this is really a great place to spend some time.

Bodies 4 Butterfly House...

Butterfly House has been open for 2 years now! Wow, the time flies. Originally focused as an HIV/AIDS resource center for the community, Butterfly House has grown into a community focused jewel helping to meet all the needs of the Fairyland and Milkytown communities. One of the many programs is the early childhood program each morning. On this particular morning Marnelle Helling led a class that taught the kids about their bodies. To drive the point home, what was the best tool? Well, food of course! Take a look at the way these kids got into their work.
The MCM/Miqlat partnership with Drakenstein Palliative Hospice is a great example of how we try to place the needs of the community first. Our two staffs and organizations work together without boundaries and share a common heart... to care for those in need by showing them love and care without prejudice. If you don't know about Drakenstein Palliative Hospice... take a look at their website at: www.drakensteinpalliativehospice.org.za. They take the boundaries of "Palliative Care" to a place that helps redefine what a Hospice should be.

Sports Park Upgrade

Once our new fields were complete, the Drakenstein Municipality called us in to talk. They had received money for a new Paarl East Community Center and our site was selected as the best location for it. We decided to give them back the southeast corner of our property for this purpose. This past week, earth movers came in and the construction has already started!
For those of you who don't know the history of the MCM Sports Park, this field was a neglected waste area that only gangs and drug abusers used. It took us 3 long years to talk the Municipality into a 20 year lease for the purpose of rebuilding it into a top quality sports park. We now have 3 sports fields, a changing room and offices along with the first section of great-looking viewing stands. We're currently working to design the next phase! Now we'll have a brand new community center with us as well... things have certainly improved.

Bowy House "graduation"

When Bowy House was opened in 2002, the one thing we didn't imagine was a time when the kids would "graduate" from the house. But time changes things! The availability of love, medicine and the power of God allows our kids to grow and move on to a normal life. Such was the case this past week as our two oldest moved on to a new home in Wellington! As always, it was a tough day on the staff, but it is truly a celebration! Once we said goodbye it was back to work and time to watch a "new pecking order" emerge among the children. Life goes on... which is a good thing!

Food Center in 2010

The totals are in and the Food Center produced 930,000 meals in 2010. That works out to over 2,500 meals for every day of the year. It's great to dwell on the impact this has had on the lives of those we've served.
One new program that really made a difference was the family meal approach. Instead of serving individual meals, we've started providing a meal for the whole family to one family member. This allows the family to sit and eat together.
Now that it's 2011 it's time to start thinking of the next step for us. Working more closely with the Department of Social Development, our plans are getting very big! Stay tuned for more news...

Welcome to our blog...

With Miqlat and MCM coming together, there is a lot of news to share on a regular basis! Given this, we decided that a regular blog is the best way to keep everyone current. We're going to task our staff with the responsibility to provide regular updates from the streets of Paarl and our surrounding communities. We encourage you to visit regularly.. both on the blog and in person!